By Mira Rathman
Hailing from Vancouver, Mode Moderne released their debut LP in 2009, followed by a single in 2011, and a small seven-song album in 2012. Now onto their newest album released on January 20, 2014, Occult Delight is filled with ambience, mystery, and fun pop-filled beats. This may sound odd but it works.
Although the album is filled with a lot of poppin’, head bobbin’ beats provided by the drums and driving bass, it is coupled with a somber yet relaxing feeling thanks to its fluttering guitars and melancholic vocals. The vocals always seem distant, adding to the ambience of the album as a whole. The guitar is bright and ranges from setting an atmospheric mood to providing riffs that help propel the songs along. This bright, twangy tone present throughout the album is very distinctive and essential to it’s sound. The bass is the driving backbone of many of the songs, providing a strong and complementing part to each and every song.
It begins with an interesting choice to fade into the first song of the album, ‘Strangle the Shadows’, which exemplifies the use of atmospheric guitar. ‘Thieving Babies’ Breath’ starts a little differently with a slow, almost ominous bassline that soon builds up into something more upbeat. Later on we hear an almost surf-rock tone guitar lifting you up in the song ‘Times Up’. The album plays out with the somber ‘Running Scared’ that is joined by a yearning violin part and finally finished off with a reflective synthesizer to wrap it all up. Songs that stuck out to me particularly were ‘Severed Heads’ with its jumping guitar riff and matching beat, and ‘Times Up’ with a melodic hook that reeled me in with little effort.
One of my favorite things about music in general is the idea that the whole of the music seems to be greater than the sum of its parts. And I think this is something Mode Moderne has executed excellently. That’s not to say that each part is boring or too simplistic, but rather that the way they fit together seems just as it should be, effortlessly and happily.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wSk5qoOOcM&h=297&w=450]
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